We’re only a few short weeks away from the Sundance Film Festival. This year Peter, Angie, and Ethan are on the ground covering the fest, meaning they’ll get to see new movies from filmmakers such as David Lowery (Pete’s Dragon), Gillian Robespierre (Obvious Child), Alex Ross Perry (Listen Up, Phillip), Marti Noxon (UnREAL), and Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land). The Festival has announced the 66 films playing in competition in addition to titles out of competition as part of the NEXT lineup. Expect more titles showing at the festival to be announced shortly. The film fest kicks off in Park City, Utah on January 19th.

Well, this is exciting. Around the time director David Lowery‘s Pete’s Dragon remake was released he filmed another feature with his Ain’t Them Bodies Saints stars, Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara. Lowery shot the mystery film in Dallas, where he’ll soon shoot his next drama, The Old Man and the Gun, which he calls a bit of a tribute to its star, Robert Redford.

Note: With Manchester by the Sea opening in theaters this weekend, we’re re-running our review from the Sundance Film Festival.

This year’s Sundance slate is positively jam-packed with tales of family tragedy, from Other People to The Hollars to The Fundamentals of Caring to Hunt for the Wilderpeople. But grief has rarely been explored as deeply and as beautifully, at Sundance or elsewhere, as in Kenneth Lonergan‘s Manchester by the Sea. This film wrecked me, to the point that I started crying all over again while working on this very review.

Casey Affleck, giving a career-best performance in a career-best role, is the devastating heart of this exquisitely wrought drama. Surrounding him are a rock-solid cast that also includes Kyle Chandler, Lucas Hedges, Michelle Williams, and C.J. Wilson. Collectively, they’ve put together a film that I strongly suspect will turn out to be the very best of this year’s Sundance crop, at least in my personal estimation. Read More »

The Old Man and the Gun is David Lowery‘s next project. The Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Pete’s Dragon directoris reuniting with Casey Affleck and Robert Redford for the movie, which is a remarkable true story about a man who spent much of his life in and out of jail and robbing banks, even when he was nearly 80 years old. Redford is playing that man, Forrest Tucker, in a film Lowery calls a tribute to Redford.

Below, the writer-director discusses his next collaboration with the actor.

Producer Matt Damon has a history with playwright, writer, and director Kenneth Lonergan. Over 14 years ago, Damon starred in a London production of one of Lonergan’s plays, This is Our Youth, alongside Manchester by the Sea star Casey Affleck. Years later, Damon had a supporting role in Lonergan’s second film, Margaret, a troubled and long-delayed drama caught up in legal troubles. After that movie, Lonergan’s reputation as a filmmaker took a hit. That led to Damon taking final cut on Manchester by the Sea, which he knew he’d never need.

Below, learn more about why the Manchester by the Sea final cut went to Damon.

David Lowery signed on to direct The Old Man and the Gun and Pete’s Dragon right around the same time. It was initially unclear which movie would happen first, but when Pete’s Dragon began to pick up speed, Lowery asked Robert Redford to play Mr. Meacham, so their other project had to wait. Now, the drama, based on a true story, is moving forward with Lowery, Redford, and a new addition, Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea).

When Manchester by the Sea premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, it was met with near universal acclaim from all who saw it. Many attendees declared it an early frontrunner for the best film of 2016. It started the 2017 Oscar conversation before the 2016 awards could even occur. The film was quickly purchased by Amazon Studios and Roadside Attractions. Director Kenneth Lonergan, whose Margaret famously endured all kinds of hell on its way to release, was now responsible for a movie that looked like it could play far beyond an audience of faithful cineastes and critics.

The first Manchester by the Sea trailer has arrived and it’s full of drama and bittersweet laughs and glimpses at complex performances from the likes of Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams. Oh, and there are Massachusetts accents. Oh boy, are there Massachusetts accents.

John Hillcoat is drawn to extreme worlds. How his characters embrace, reject or accept their brutal environments is a running idea throughout much of the director’s work. The filmmaker’s latest picture, Triple 9, is definitely a John Hillcoat film, filled with pain and violence. He’s never one to shy away from reality. In fact, he fights for it.

On paper, Triple 9sounds like familiar territory, another story of corrupt cops butting heads with police officers and crooks alike. But if you place John Hillcoat in the director’s chair, I’m suddenly very interested. And if you then place Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Winslet, Anthony Mackie, Norman Reedus, Gal Gadot, and Aaron Paul in front of the camera, you’ve just sold a ticket.

A new batch of Triple 9 clips have arrived on the the heels of those very intense trailers and posters, just in case you need some additional convincing that a crime film with that line-up deserves to be on your radar. Whether it’s ultimately good or bad remains to be seen, but there’s no way this movie is boring.

What do you get when you combine John Hillcoat, the talented director of Lawless and The Road; an A-list ensemble cast that includes Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Kate Winslet; and more dirty-cop tropes than you can shake a stick at? The answer is Triple 9, a gritty crime thriller that lands in theaters next weekend. The Black List script by Matt Cook centers on a group of corrupt officers blackmailed by the mob into pulling off an insane heist. They decide the only way to pull it off is to kill one of their own, but suffice it to say things don’t go as planned.

Open Road Films has come in just under the wire with one last Triple 9 trailer, just as the first Triple 9 reviews have hit the web. Watch the latest promo, and find out what the critics are saying about Hillcoat’s caper, after the jump. Read More »